I have a mix of emotions while writing this blog post from the Atlanta airport and a few thousand miles away from Buenos Aires. I’m so incredibly grateful to have been able to participate in the Plus3 program this year and travel to such a beautiful city, but I am also very sad that we had to leave so soon. The two weeks really flew by, but we were able to fit in countless truly once in a lifetime experiences. I also made so many friends that I probably would never have been this close to otherwise. Beyond the educational aspects of the trip, I learned so much about myself by throwing myself into such an unfamiliar situation and still managing to thrive. It used to be very difficult for me to adjust to any change, but I found that I am absolutely capable of taking on any situation I am given, whether that be navigating an unfamiliar city or trying to figure out how to wash my clothes at the laundromat down the block.

Beyond realizing how much potential I have within myself, I also learned a lot about some things we could try to do better in the US. One of, if not the most, important concepts of the trip is something that I don’t think I would have been able to fully understand without being in Argentina and interacting with locals. This concept is solidarity. In the US, our society is built off of competition. So many aspects of our lives are controlled by the idea that we have to be constantly better than everyone around us. While of course there is still competition in Argentina, there is a much greater emphasis on the common good. Instead of fighting tooth and nail for personal gain, most Argentinians will tell you that they genuinely want to help others. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the public health system. Working conditions are not great, resources are scarce, and the opportunity for growth is small, but everyone working in that system has made an unspoken agreement with the people of the country to put the common good above personal comfort. This is true selflessness, and I think we could really use more of that in the US. As I close out my final blog post, I hope that I was able to convey just how meaningful this experience was to me on so many different levels. I will carry what I learned in these short two weeks with me for the rest of my life. ¡Chau chau!